This invention relates in general to external antenna connectors for mobile communication devices, and more particularly to connection scheme for automatically disconnecting the externally accessible portion of the antenna contacts when the mobile communication device is not connected to an external antenna.
Frequently mobile communication devices are used in conjunction with an external antenna. For example, there are accessories for cellular phones referred to as xe2x80x9ccar kits.xe2x80x9d A typical car kit receives the phone, and makes various electrical connections to the phone for providing power to the cellular phone and for connecting an external antenna to the cellular phone for increased performance, as is known in the art.
To facilitate switching the radio frequency signal path to the external antenna, the mobile communication device is provided with a radio frequency or RF connector so that the radio signal can be passed through the car kit instead of the antenna of the mobile communication device. Typically the RF connector is soldered to a circuit board of the mobile communication device and accessible through an opening in the housing of the mobile communication device. This arrangement causes a couple problems. First, the RF connector is typically exposed, and subject to being touched by the user of the mobile communication device, and degrading the radio performance of the mobile communication device, and also directly exposing the user to RF energy. Furthermore, the connector may be short circuited if the mobile communication device is, for example, carried in a user""s pocket with coins. A short circuit would cause momentary loss of service, and potentially loss of a call under other circumstances. Therefore there is a need for an antenna switching system that avoids these problems.